LYNN — Hingham entered Monday evening’s matchup with quite the resume. The No. 3 Harbormen sported a 10-1 record, reached the Division 1 Elite 8 last season before falling to champion St. John’s Prep, and took down St. Mary’s, 4-1, nearly a year ago to the day.
But this year’s Spartans took it right to them at Connery Rink. No. 11 St. Mary’s scored first en route to a 2-2 tie on Hockey Fights Cancer Night.
“That’s the first time we put three full periods together as a team,” said second-year St. Mary’s coach Matthew Smith, whose Spartans outshot Hingham, 35-16. “I thought we were the better team today. I thought we didn’t deserve a tie, but we’ll take it against a top-three team in the state. I couldn’t be more proud of the effort today.”
Trailing, 2-1, with less than three minutes to go in the third period, Joey Calder of the Spartans flew through the offensive zone before slipping a shot behind Hingham goalie Mike Karo.
The St. Mary’s faithful erupted in celebration, but the official didn’t signal a goal. From there – through all of the madness – Michael Nerich shot the puck into the net and was credited with his fourth goal of the season.
Better yet, it was a 2-2 game.
“Play stopped, but it wasn’t over,” Smith said. “He threw it right at the net and gets a goal.”
A five-minute overtime (4-on-4) was back-and-forth, but neither side broke through. Spartans’ goalie Matthew Smith Jr. (14 saves) was tested with a hard wrister, but made a pad save.
“Great defense, great goaltender, and great forwards,” Smith said. “The only goal they really had was a mistake by us – a turnover in front of the net. It’s a learning lesson for these kids.”
The turning point of the game could’ve been a five-minute major penalty on St. Mary’s with seconds remaining in the first period. The Harbormen had a few minor chances, but active sticks and strong clears led to the end of the kill.
The Spartans have allowed just one power-play goal this season. They sport a 96 percent success rate and have now killed off two majors.
“We practice it, the boys buy in, and they’re very sound structurally,” Smith said. “They ice pucks hard and killing that major was obviously a huge momentum-builder for us.”
Another momentum-builder was when Colton Carpenter started the evening with a bang. His rebound goal on the power play put the hosts ahead, 1-0, after a too-many-men call against Hingham.
St. Mary’s also backed up Hingham with a stifling forecheck.
“We watched some film and knew they struggled a bit on the backend. We knew we could funnel the wall and keep pucks in. Our forecheck was our defense today,” Smith said. “The puck was in their end a lot.”
St. Mary’s remaining schedule includes No. 12 Arlington Catholic, top-ranked Pope Francis, No. 5 Boston College High, and No. 4 St. John’s Prep.
“I think these kids are really starting to believe in themselves now,” Smith said. “They’re showing, these last few weeks, that they can compete with anyone in the state.”
